Welcome Chase, Our New Advocacy, Education, and Engagement Coordinator!

We are thrilled to introduce Chase DeBack as Barn Sanctuary’s new Advocacy,
Education, and Engagement Coordinator! Chase brings endless passion,
compassion, and a great deal of experience to our mission of creating a better
world for farmed animals. His love and compassion for animals, educating and
being a leader makes this position just right for him.

From a young age, Chase has shown empathy and kindness to animals and the
environment, shaping his future life choices to lead a compassionate life for
everyone around him, including the animals, wildlife, and nature. Chase was
surrounded by a home filled with beloved companion animals. This environment
helped him develop his deep sense of empathy and responsibility, as he learned
to care for his furry companions. Family trips often took Chase into the heart of
nature, where hiking trails and outdoor exploration sparked his love for wildlife
and the natural world. These early experiences continue to shape Chase’s
compassionate outlook and his commitment to making a positive impact on
animals and the environment.

After his time at community college, Chase’s next big adventure took him to live
in Alaska and Colorado, where the nature that surrounded him strengthened his
commitment to protecting it. Chase moved back to Michigan after his time out
west, where he became an ABA Therapist, working with kids who have autism
and becoming a trainer for others who wanted to work down this path. This
reinforced his love for teaching others and being an effective leader. His motto:
Lead by example.

Chase’s journey towards being vegan started 9 years ago, where his concern for
the environment is what initially made him question his lifestyle choices. When
he learned about the ethical issues tied to animal agriculture, this made him
change full stop. His love for animals and the environment took charge, and he
decided to become a vegan. Some of the information portrayed to him was
through different means. Food inc., Cowspiracy, Forks over knives, and Earthlings
are a few of the documentaries that made the biggest impact on him and fueled
his urge to share this information with others so that they could make more
informed choices as well.

Chase has been an animal rights activist for 8+ years, working with groups such
as The Animal Save Movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, We the free, co-
founding the animal rights group Action for Animals and the Everybody Hates
Vegans podcast. Attending animal right conventions and workshops, learning
how he could better educate those around him on the issue. He was using his
skills as an educator to make positive change for the animals and environment.
Leading by example.

Chase wanted to fully immerse himself in the vegan world. He focused on
volunteering and getting around animals and being in the vegan space as much
as possible. He was on the board of directors for Dominion Sanctuary, regularly
volunteered at Sasha Farm Animal Sanctuary, and quit his job teaching kids to
work at the vegan restaurant Veg-N. This led to achieving a part-time job at Sasha
Farm, assisting them with their education program, where they went to colleges
and universities all over the state of Michigan, speaking with students on the
issues tied to animal agriculture. Eventually, this led to a full-time job as an
Animal Caretaker at Sasha Farm.

After a year working at Sasha as an Animal Caretaker, life events out of Chase’s
control happened, which led him to find a new job. Luckily, Barn Sanctuary was
hiring for a facilities position. Chase got the job and has been a member of the
Barn family for almost two years now. With Barn Sanctuary opening this new
position for Education, Advocacy, and Education Coordinator, we knew that with
all his experience, Chase was the perfect fit for the job. Chase switched from his
position on the facilities team to his new role in November of 2025 and has been
making great changes since. We look forward to seeing what positive changes
Chase will make in the future in helping Barn Sanctuary succeed in our mission
and vision.